SOUTH BEND, Ind. - The thought concerning Notre Dame’s recruiting class of 2009 was that the Irish were probably at or near the finish in terms of adding players.

Subtracting players, however, is another matter.

San Bernardino, Calif., cornerback Marlon Pollard, an Irish commit since last summer, changed his pledge over the weekend, flipping to UCLA, the school to which he had been committed prior to picking ND (if you’re keeping score, it goes UCLA-ND-UCLA).

“I’ve known (UCLA) for so long and created so many relationships, it was really like coming home,” Pollard told the L.A. Daily News. “UCLA never stopped coming after me, and coach (Rick) Neuheisel has done an awesome job of that. It was just the right opportunity for me.”

The 6-foot, 165-pound Pollard was considered one of the top four players — the others being running back Cierre Wood, wide receiver Shaquelle Evans and offensive guard Chris Watt — in ND’s class.

His decommitment, while painful, isn’t fatal. Senior-to-be Raeshon McNeil played well in 2008 in his first season as a starter, and sophomore Robert Blanton used an injury to starter Terrail Lambert to nudge his way into the starting lineup, although Blanton may have seen starting time late in the year, Lambert injury or not.

And 2007 starter Darrin Walls, one of the top cornerback prospects in the recruiting class of 2006, returns this fall after not being enrolled for the fall semester due to “personal reasons.”

Junior Gary Gray, however, is not enrolled for the spring semester after not traveling to last month’s Hawaii Bowl because of personal reasons. The expectation is that Gray will return to school this summer and play in the fall.

Freshman E.J. Banks, who starts school this week as an early enrollee, is expected to miss spring practice after November surgery for a left knee injury.

Freshman Jamoris Slaughter did not play last season, which gives him four remaining seasons of eligibility. 

Pursuing another
Notre Dame jumped into the mix for Chicago-area linebacker/defensive end Michael Buchanan with a recent scholarship offer. The 6-6, 220-pound Buchanan is scheduled to visit Michigan State this weekend.

An early jump
Three members of Notre Dame’s 17-man recruiting class got an early jump on college life when they began classes this week.

Banks, linebacker Zeke Motta and defensive tackle Tyler Stockton gained a jump on their classmates by graduating high school early and vaulting to college, which will allow them to participate in spring practice.

Banks, however, will likely sit out because of the injury, although he’s still finding the positives.

“I’m not going to be too discouraged about it because how many freshmen are really going to be up there when I’m there, so I’m still going to have a lot of experience,” he said.

“I’m still going to be able to get through the playbook and stuff like that, see practices. The only thing I was worried about with my ACL was being out of shape. But I’ll get into shape.”

With a thin defensive line, Stockton, the only defensive lineman in the class, could challenge for early playing time.

And with starting linebacker Harrison Smith expected to move to safety, Motta could be a guy to keep an eye on at outside linebacker. Motta found himself eyeing Smith when he would watch the Irish last fall.

“Just seeing kind of what he did and how he blitzed, what he did to adjust to a play, kind of figuring out what he would do in that situation,” Motta said. “It was cool, and I think that I can learn a lot from him as a player and certainly go in there and take what he has to say because he’s been there doing it a lot more than me.”

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